Superman was so so. I am debating about how far to go in my review without giving out spoilers.
my 5 main points:
- Brian Singer was obsessively faithful to the early Superman movies. A double edged sword in my opinion
- Brandon Routh is spot on as Reeve’s bumbly doofus Clark.
- James Marsden has the unfortunate legacy of being the chump in both a DC and Marvel comic movie love triangle
- the airline rescue sequence was worth the price of admission
- the Christ symbolism was hard to miss
What i didn’t like: The portrayal of Luthor. John Byrne’s Man of Steel from the late 80’s recast Luthor from a Green and Purple flying suit criminal to a ruthless man of considerable financial power. Spacey was going to the throwback Hackman’s performance with a bit of an evil undercurrent. <SPOILER>(mouseover at your own risk)making Superman Lois Lane’s baby’s daddy. talk about a really jacked up workplace environment. and where will they go with the story after that?? They really were hammeing home the Christ thing, the father’s voice telling him he sent them his son, the crucifix pose, the raising from the dead after a period of time.</SPOILER>
It felt lacking in some areas. and i’m not sure where they’ll go from here.
Thanks for the review. Just for comparison sake, I watched the 1978 Superman today and I hope to catch Superman Returns this week.
i’m in serious agreement with you on your assesment. wonder what they’re going to do the second time around.
Out of four stars, I would give it three.
Christopher Reeves in my mind was Superman and I’ve actually hesistated seeing Superman Returns for that reason. 1978 Superman is one of my favorite movies – for so many reasons, not the least of which when Clark decides to reveal himself to Lois in her apartment. He takes off his glasses and Reeves does this incredible job of morphing from Clark to Superman – the physical acting is amazing. (Or maybe I just fell in love.)
And the Christ symbolism is pretty heavy in the ’78 version too.